The Paralympic flame was lit yesterday on the four highest peaks of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.  The athletes have started to arrive in London and the largest staging of the Paralympics in its more than 50 year history.
In the run up to the London 2012 Games Sport for Business has spoken with individual corporate partners of Paralympics Ireland to get a sense of what motivated their involvement and how they have best been able to make it work.
Allianz has been involved with the international Paralympic movement for many years and the relationship with Paralympics Ireland grew initially out of that.  The company is a strong supporter of Irish sport, sponsoring the Allianz National Leagues in GAA, the Cumman na mBunscoil tournaments in schools sport and a long association with golf.
Sport for Business: How did Allianz first form a relationship with Paralympics Ireland?
Damien O’Neill, Allianz Marketing Director: Allianz’ involvement with Paralympics Ireland goes very deep and for many different reasons. It initially grew out of our international programme but very much stands on its own merits.  Sport gives us a touch point in every community and the Paralympics brings a special kind of magic.
What were the main reasons for becoming involved in the partnership?
Insurance is all about helping people to put their lives back together after sometimes terrible things going wrong.  You could search for a long time and never find a role model that people can use to gain perspective on what has happened and how they can move on.
To sit though for a while with a Paralympic athlete like Mark Rohan or Orla Barry simply cannot fail to lift and inspire you.  I have no hesitation in saying that Mark is the most ‘can-do’ person I have ever had the pleasure to meet.
There is a grace and a quality to his whole persona and his outlook on life which is an absolute clear fit with the presentation of Allianz to our customer base.
What have been the most effective ways so far that you have made the relationship work?
Our principal commitment has been to ensure that the effort and achievement of these athletes is brought to as wide an audience as possible.
We wanted to ensure that our involvement could be recognised by customers in a clear fashion and we chose to do that through facilitating, encouraging and sponsoring the free to air television coverage that Setanta will show across Ireland throughout the Games.
On our first engagement, Liam Harbison (CEO Paralympics Ireland) showed us a one minute clip of sporting achievement and celebration.
It was electric.  The kind of footage that you will never forget, the kind of footage that sometimes only sport can provide.  It was though the only footage which there was of our Paralympic stars.
Parity of access and parity of esteem are two core principles at Allianz.  There was clearly a lack of parity here and we set out to change that.”
We have a great relationship with Setanta Ireland through the stations coverage of the Allianz Leagues and Formula One and we set the wheels in motion to see whether they could obtain rights to the London Games from the European Broadcasting Union.
That has resulted in up to ten hours a day of live coverage from London throughout the Games this August and September.  It will be broadcast free to air and Allianz being associated with action that will move the whole country is something that we see as very important.
It will enable the communities that support and encourage our athletes to perform to see the result of their efforts.
Throughout the summer the GAA has been promoting the importance of ‘being there’ in sport.  The broadcasting of the games now, and hopefully again in 2016 and beyond gives supporters of Paralympic Sport, and that should be all of us, the opportunity to ‘be there’ in as close a way as will ever be possible for most.
We also wanted to highlight this ‘can-do’ attitude that is such an important element of sport in general and the Paralympic movement in particular.
We filmed a television advertisement with Mark Rohan which is one of the best we have ever done, and our global support programme has enabled us to put Orla Barry into a poster campaign being seen by millions of passengers in all the world’s major airports.
What do you believe has been the main result of your involvement? 
Paralympic Athletes, as much as anyone, deserve parity of esteem. That is what we hope to be able to give them.
Being the first brand to use a Paralympic athlete as the central focus in a major broadcast advertisement helped as will the broadcast coverage.
Paralympics Ireland will never have to worry again about a lack of footage to show what can be achieved.
Allianz is deeply committed to sport nationally and internationally.  Over 50% of our marketing budget goes on sponsorship, the bulk of that on sport.  There is no finer way to build a community.  It is difficult to find anything that comes close to the level of positive energy it generates.
To be able to bring that energy into the homes and the lives of our customers is a good result in its own right and one that will be of long term benefit.
The Irish team at the London 2012 Paralympic Games will comprise of 49 athletes across 10 sports. Ireland’s current Paralympic stars include Jason Smyth, Michael McKillop, Mark Rohan, Colin Lynch, Catherine Walsh and Catherine O’Neill.  All will be aiming to add London gold to their world or Paralympic titles.
The overall team size will be boosted to around 95 by a highly dedicated and professional team of staff across a variety of roles including Chef de Mission, Performance Director, Team Managers, coaches, sport science/medical and personal care support. The goal is to achieve at least five medals, three of them Gold, and a top-30 placing in the final table.
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